Honda SIEL Cars India (HSCI) has seen a dip in sales and a terrible figure of market share in the Indian Car Market lately. One of the primary reasons for these disasters is No Diesel Variants of any of the cars available inIndia. Presently maximum number of customers are interested in Diesel Variants be it small hatch or Large SUV/Sedans thanks to the ever-rising petrol prices.
We know Honda is selling Diesel Variants of Accord and the CR-V in European Car Market. Those cars are powered by a similar 2.2-Litre In-Line 4-Cylinder Turbocharged Diesel Engine but with different tuning states. So it’s very obvious for Indian Car Market to demand the Diesel Variants of the Accord and CR-V, but the Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing of HSCI leaves us with an ‘alas’ by saying
“While it is technically possible to downgrade both these engines, the low volumes of the Accord and CR-V (in India) do not justify it. Also the engines for the European market have been developed taking into account the low sulphur content in the diesel there, unlike in India.”
Here’s the clarification why HSCI won’t come with that existing 2.2-Litre Diesel Motor:
That 2.2-Litre diesel motor is designed to run on ultra low sulphur diesel for very low emission. But the diesel available in India doesn’t match the European Standard of Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel. Diesel available in Europe is 10 PPM (Parts per Million) where Indian diesel is 15 PPM. However, Honda is working on a more powerful version of the 1.6-Litre i-DTEC Turbo-Diesel Engine that we saw at the Geneva International Motor how. It is said that more powerful version will produce 160 BHP and 349 Nm and will replace the existing 2.2-Litre engine. Besides, Honda is developing a small capacity (Displacement between 1.2-Litre and 1.5-Litre) for their 2 Hatches inIndia, Brio and Jazz. Honda’s main focus in the development is Fuel Efficiency which is supposed to be close to 25 kmpl in ARAI Standards. We expect HSCI to come up also with a Diesel Variant of Civic powered by that 1.6-Litre Diesel motor, but the big question still remains: When?
By,
Arghya Pan
Team MotorBash
Source: Economic Times
Finally Honda Motors has decided to introduce new cars in Indian Auto Blogs, as per rumours Honda plans to come up with a diesel engine in Honda Civic.